Crushed Garlic Paste

Is there anything better than garlic in cooking? Well, I guess butter. So…. next to butter is there anything better? Did someone say alcohol? Oh my gawd, making this hard tonight.

Okay, okay.

Next to those other two things, is there really anything better than garlic? You better be thinking “No!” just this once. Now that everyone agrees, we’re going to talk about this week’s “How-to” and this one is how to make your own crushed garlic paste.

You could buy it in the little jar or tube, ready to use right away and keep it in the fridge for all your cooking needs, or with just a little time, salt, and elbow grease, fresh paste can be yours whenever you need.

So you will need a few things to get going:

cutting board

chef knife

garlic

salt

After you get your garlic peeled, go ahead and trim the bulb end away and discard. Next, with the flat of the blade and your fist, give your cloves a good hard pounding to get it crunched down.

Next, mince the living daylights out of it. The more you mince now, the less work you have in the next step. So mince! Mince, you saucy saucier!

Now, spread on the salt. I use course sea salt to really get the grind on. Don’t use too much salt or you’ll be making your own version of fresh garlic salt. You want just enough to add some friction to help you with the grinding. Again, use the flat of the blade to grind in short and long strokes, occasionally scraping and chopping to help break down the garlic. It will get sticky, but I promise it will be worth it.

Once you’ve got it to a consistency of your liking, you’re done. Just scrap all that work into a little pile and add to your recipe. I have prepped garlic like this and sealed it in an airtight container for 3 days before using. Just give it a little squishing and you’re ready to cook.